Van der Garde

Interesting to see the Addax GP2 line-up at Caterham again: Pic and Van der Garde. If my memory is right that Pic was the faster driver. Especially with his 3 pole positions.

Van der Garde first tested the Spyker F1 car in 2007. Six years after his first F1 test he will make his F1 debut. Was there a driver who had to wait longer? Maldonado did his first test with MInardi in 2004 and his first race was in 2011. But more?

Van der Garde first tested the Spyker F1 car in 2007. Six years after his first F1 test he will make his F1 debut. Was there a driver who had to wait longer? Maldonado did his first test with MInardi in 2004 and his first race was in 2011. But more?

You know we're talking about the back of the grid right? It's not new.

Exactly! No matter who is in that seat, it's a battle for the best of the non-scorers. And if history has said anything, anyone who gets into the Caterham/Lotus or Marussia/Virgin seats are not moving up in F1.

If you were a young driver, would you actually want that Caterham seat? I mean it's F1, but does barely qualifying and running seconds off pace really look that appealing? Maybe for Van der Garde and his family money, it's a culmination of the tens of millions spent trying to reach the level, but if you are looking at competing for the likes of Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, do you want to spend a year in a feeder series running at the top for another year (which Frijns is trying to do) and test for one of the better teams, or run in the back spending a lot more money. Both are gambles, but even if you never reach the top of F1, would you as a driver feel proud driving in the Caterham?

If you were a young driver, would you actually want that Caterham seat? I mean it's F1, but does barely qualifying and running seconds off pace really look that appealing? Maybe for Van der Garde and his family money, it's a culmination of the tens of millions spent trying to reach the level, but if you are looking at competing for the likes of Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, do you want to spend a year in a feeder series running at the top for another year (which Frijns is trying to do) and test for one of the better teams, or run in the back spending a lot more money. Both are gambles, but even if you never reach the top of F1, would you as a driver feel proud driving in the Caterham?

The likes of Nannini, Fisichella, Trulli, Alonso and Webber were all happy to start off in a Minardi. At least GvdG should expect having at least two other cars to race against, besides his team mate.

Well he was WSR 3.5 champion in 2008. Admittedly the field was not particularly strong that year, but it is a decent formula. He can't be that bad. Nice to have a Dutchman back in F1. Maybe he can surprise a few people.

To be fair both Frijns and van der Garde's biggest claim to fame is the exact same - the World Series by Renault title. It's just that Frijns has won 3 different highly rated championships in his 4 years in cars, whereas Giedo's WSR title is his only trophy in 10 years...

I'm a little shocked Giedo managed to hang on for long enough to finally do this, he basically "patiented" his way into the series. He just needed to wait for the moment the economy would be bad enough for a team to be desperate...

The likes of Nannini, Fisichella, Trulli, Alonso and Webber were all happy to start off in a Minardi. At least GvdG should expect having at least two other cars to race against, besides his team mate.

this^^There were, and there always will be paydrivers. I would say nowadays they are even fairly decent(Or the cars are easier to cope with). There were always fan complaints about paydrivers too. So seriously nothing's new, really. If the economic environment continues to decline like it does, brace yourselves for more. Glock was dropped because he is expensive. The funniest thing is G. Minardi complaining a few days ago about pay drivers.

Well he was WSR 3.5 champion in 2008. Admittedly the field was not particularly strong that year, but it is a decent formula. He can't be that bad. Nice to have a Dutchman back in F1. Maybe he can surprise a few people.

This, I hope for. I thought he'd be here before now. His Friday runnings last year weren't too bad.

That was some solace for me - the notion that van der Garde got the seat because Petrov had got a better offer at Force India, but the impression I get was that it was Caterham or bust for Vitaly, so that's that, I'm afraid. :\

That was some solace for me - the notion that van der Garde got the seat because Petrov had got a better offer at Force India, but the impression I get was that it was Caterham or bust for Vitaly, so that's that, I'm afraid. :\

For a pay driver I don't think Petrov is bad at all. If he brings the cash he can take that Force India seat, what else would they be waiting for?

If you actually saw his GP2 years, he's actually not done that bad. Not Hamilton-level, but if not for bad luck (mechanical issues, Valsecchi) he would have done a whole lot better and would have challenged Grosjean for the title in '11.

I actually applaud Caterham for not hiring a test driver with no intention of using him. van der Garde was hired as a test driver last year to show his skills, and he's impressed enough to being given this chance.

Is he a top driver? Probably not, but people here acting like he's the next Karthikeyan clearly haven't paid much attention.

Of course and its a naive opinion to think talent will overcome money but it doesn't make it any less frustrating when guys like Frijns are looked over for someone like GvDG.

I don't think my compatriot Van der Garde is going to cut it in F1, but you never know... He's got wins in F3, GP2, WSR... based on his cv alone he deserves a shot at F1... Looking back at the past of F1, real paydrivers usually did not want squad before F1... Remember Emil de Vilota? Riccardo Paletti? Gaston Mazzacane? I think that the new generation of paydrivers - Petrov, Maldonado are much better...

So, he got a rich father-in-law and he gets a chance in backgrid car. I don't expect him to shine but still I hope he will.

As a Dutchman I'm happy we finally have a Dutch driver again. That being said, Van der Garde isn't that talented. He's mostly know for causing collisions and is no real high flying driver. He's got some good backing from is father in law, who bought him this seat. Can't really shine in a Caterham, so this is probably just a one season experience for him.

As a Dutchman I don't have any high hopes... Another waiste of money, I'd much rather have seen the sponsorship for Robin Frijns.

Aye, it is completely absird that a no-mark like vdG winds up in a race seat when a blartantly stellar talent such as Frijns can't.

Kind of reminds a bit of the period when the likes of Olivier Grouillard spent years plugging away in F3000 for the occasional fifth, and then go on to spend several years in back-of-the-grid F1 teams acting as a mobile chicane when clearly superior talents (e.g. Andy Wallace; Tom Kristensen) went nowhere.

I don't know what people want from him. He won WSbR and his worst position overall in GP2 was 7th. I'm afraid some people tend to treat every driver with large sponsorship backing as useless drivers, no matter how they really do.

For Frijns it is too early. He was supposed to have some problems during young driver test, he was not ready to push the car to it's limit. On the other hand, Van der Garde was usually setting respectable laps times when he had a chance to drive F1 car recently. I hope Frijns is in F1 in 2014 or 2015, but he needs to gather more experience. VdG may be not the most talented driver, but he shouldn't be a disaster, really.

As a Dutchman I'm happy we finally have a Dutch driver again. That being said, Van der Garde isn't that talented. He's mostly know for causing collisions and is no real high flying driver. He's got some good backing from is father in law, who bought him this seat. Can't really shine in a Caterham, so this is probably just a one season experience for him.

Mostly known for causing collisions? No. He's not. He does get involved in a lot of accidents, but I can't recall one which was his fault.

Funny that people here would rather see a Petrov or a Bianchi. Petrov didn't do any better than vd Garde in the junior series and Bianchi is the one who made vd Garde lose his GP2 title bid by crashing into him multiple times.

I'm looking forward to his starts. In almost every GP2 race he had very fast starts and gained positions. I wonder if he can do the same in F1.

Doing what exactly? No FP outings, minimal simulator use and, as yet, no series to race in, not what he needs at this stage of his career.

Van der Garde didn't force Frijns to sign for Sauber. Sauber looked like the best deal at the time.You're acting like Caterham signing Giedo van der Garde is the reason Robin Frijns is not in a race seat, which is rediculous.

FR3.5 back then had a pretty poor grid, a long way from what it is today, and his results in GP2 showed little progression or improvement over 4 years.

To put it into perspective he started in Euro F3 the same year as Hamilton and Sutil, the year before Di Resta and Vettel, two years before Kobayashi and just to show how slow he has been at progressing he also started in the F3 Euro Series 5 years before fellow rookies Bottas & Gutierrez did.

I know, its the way F1 works but he's not fast, he's rich, don't make the mistake of thinking he's worked his way up to F1 because of his "talent".

And yes, your right, he's not the only culprit and one or two others are more reliant on their funding than he is.

Van der Garde first tested the Spyker F1 car in 2007. Six years after his first F1 test he will make his F1 debut. Was there a driver who had to wait longer? Maldonado did his first test with MInardi in 2004 and his first race was in 2011. But more?

In WC terms, Jean-Louis Schlesser had a remarkable first two GP appearances; a DNQ in 1983, and a race debut in 1988. But he did drive in the F1 Race of Champions in 1983.

Vic Wilson did that in reverse. First GP in 1960, second would have been in 1966, but he DNS'd.